


17/01/2019: Not To Toot My Own Horn

by pop_incognito



Series: 365 Drabbles [17]
Category: Free!
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, Pointless fluff, Stag Beetles, short and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-12 01:07:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17457686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pop_incognito/pseuds/pop_incognito
Summary: Aii comes back to their room after training to find a rather odd sight.





	17/01/2019: Not To Toot My Own Horn

**Author's Note:**

> Do I know anything about stag beetles? Not at all. Did that stop me from writing about one? Absolutely not. This took me ages because I was still in the swing of writing Run to Paradise Momotori, and the dynamics are VERY different /sweats. Hope this is still cute!

Aii comes back to the dormitory in the middle of the night, his whole body aching from the training regimen Sousuke has him following, and all he wants to do it crawl into his bunk and sleep for a solid twenty four hours, glad that the team were granted the next day off. Saturdays with no training were the kindest thing Rin could grant them, and Aii planned on repaying that kindness by turning into a potato wrapped in blankets and his stuffed duck until he was inevitably dragged out of bed by Momo’s incessant whining for attention.

When he opens the door, he discovers that his activities for the night aren’t over yet. “Momo, what the hell are you doing?!” he all but shrieks, dropping his gear bag and flying into the room.

Momotarou ‘I’m A Dumbass’ Mikoshiba is leaning right out over the edge of his bunk bed, the railing pressing into the tops of his knees, trying to reach the lightbulb in the middle of the ceiling. It takes Aii a moment to realise that Momo is more likely reaching for the large black beetle clinging to the base of the lightbulb, stubbornly sitting there and occasionally clicking its pincers in Momo’s direction.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” Momo says, pouting down at Aii with his fingers still clawing a foot or two away from the beetle defying Momo’s authority as its parent. “She won’t come down!”

“You’re about to come down!” Aii squawks, dashing into the room and grabbing Momo by the shoulders before the younger boy can tumble right over the edge of the bunk. “Can’t you just leave her up there until she falls asleep and falls off?” He pushes Momo back into his bed, trying his best to emulate Rin’s scary mom scowl and levelling it at Momo. “You idiot, you could have fallen right off.”

Momo has the grace to look sheepish, rubbing the back of his neck and pouting down at Aii. “Yeah, well…” He turns his face up to the beetle mocking him on the ceiling. “I just want to put her back in her enclosure so I can open the window. It’s hot in here.” Their room’s fan has been broken for a few days now, after a rather unfortunate incident involving Sousuke, a shoe, and yet another one of Momo’s beetles. “And I’m sure you don’t want her flying around all night.”

Aii does not want that. He has woken up with a beetle on his face on more than one occasion, and he can say first hand that, unlike Momo, he is not very fond of the sensation. “But you couldn’t have gone to fetch the step ladder? Or found someone taller to do it?”

“I went to find Sousuke, but Rin didn’t know where he was,” Momo sulks, crossing his arms. He brightens up after a second. “And not to toot my own horn, but I’m pretty good at getting my beetles down from all sorts of whacky places.”

All Aii can do is shake his head in exasperation and pray that he never caused Rin this many headaches while they were rooming together. And he and Rin hadn’t even been-

His thought gets cut off by Momo vaulting off the top bunk and landing directly in front of Aii, who yelps and jumps back a foot, his arms flailing defensively. “I have an idea!” Momo exclaims, putting his hands heavily on Aii’s shoulders. “Pick me up so I can reach the roof!” Before Aii can even think of protesting – he’s much too sore to lift anything heavier than a water bottle right now, and Momo is taller than him anyway – Momo seems to get another idea. “No, wait! I’ll pick _you_ up, I can probably get you higher up anyway.”

Aii blinks, and Momo’s arms are suddenly around his waist. While this is a common occurrence that often leads to many fun things, right at this moment it leads to Aii being thrown up in the air while he windmills his arms and protests loudly. Momo shushes him with a grin, his chin pressed into Aii’s stomach as he walks backwards so that Aii is directly under the light.

“You don’t want to wake anyone up,” Momo teases.

“I hate you,” Aii grumbles, but decides that he may as well help while he’s up there. He wants the window cracked open too. He squints at the beetle. “Is this thing going to bite me if I touch it?”

“She’s not a thing!” Momo whines, earning himself a flick to the forehead before Aii reaches up to the ceiling. The beetle crawls calmly into Aii’s hand and sits there proudly as Momo gapes at her in betrayal. “Why does she like you more than me?” he asks, eyes tearing up comically.

Aii sighs, rolling his eyes in fond exasperation as he pats Momo’s head consolingly. “Because I’m just that awesome,” he says gently, still being held up several feet in the air. “Not to toot my own horn,” he adds, grinning at Momo when the younger boy shoots him a dirty look. The air around them is heavy with their obtuse flirting. “Now put me down and put her back in her cage.”

Momo hums, lowering Aii to the ground and scooping the beetle out of his hands. He drops a kiss to Aii’s mouth in thanks without thinking about it and crosses the room to deposit his pet back where she belongs. When he walks back, he leans down for another kiss, and smiles at the pink flush that erupts on Aii’s face. “You taste like chlorine,” Momo says absently. “Were you training again?”

Aii nods, trying to keep the stupid goofy grin off his face. “I’m getting faster.”

“That’s because you’re just that awesome,” Momo parrots, and Aii laughs, reaching out to grab Momo’s hand.

“Come on,” Aii says, dragging Momo towards the bottom bunk. “If you promise not to wake me up before ten, I guess you can sleep with me tonight.”

Momo cheers, and scrambles around to open the window and turn the lights off. He dives into Aii’s bed and curls against him, arms and legs going everywhere. Aii protests weakly, but he smiles at Momo in the dark, curling his hands against Momo’s chest comfortably.

Momo still wakes him up at eight, but Aii can’t bring himself to be mad when Momo presents him with a breakfast sandwich in apology.

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment and leave kudos <3


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